The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. // Isaiah 35:1-2
I live in the desert. Well, that is not entirely accurate. I live in a city, which is in a desert. It is hot, dry, and brown. My kids wear shorts year-round, and we struggle to keep our lawns green and gardens sheltered from the unrelenting heat of the Arizona sun.
When I was younger, I longed to live where it was green. I wanted to live where it rained and where flowers grew in abundance. I wanted to wear boots and sweaters for more than just a few weeks after Christmas.
After graduating high school, I said goodbye to the desert and left for California. It was still sunny, but it was a lot prettier and certainly much greener. Every school break, I would drive home alone across that desert and gaze upon it in wonder. By the end of my four years, I loved the desert.
You see, even in the parched land of the Sonoran there are blooms. They aren’t as plentiful, but they are striking. The century plant bloom is just as large as the base plant itself, and the stalk on which the bloom grows can be forty-feet tall. It is called the century plant because although it actually blooms about every twenty-five years, it seems to take a century!
There are seasons in our lives when it seems like things just won't bloom. Seasons when we are waiting and our patience is being strengthened. Sister, God is there with us in the ugliness before the bloom. He is waiting in your desert, and He knows the perfect time for our lives to blossom.
Advent is a time not just of waiting, but of preparation.
As we sit in the desert of our own lives, we can choose to either sit idly by and complain or patiently prepare for our blooming. If you are in a period of waiting, spend some time today praying about how God may be preparing you for the next season. Ask the Lord to make His presence known and help you to intentionally prepare your heart for what is coming.
He knows the perfect time for our lives to blossom. // @maryruthhackettClick to tweet
Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett is a writer, national speaker, and podcast host covering topics in psychology and faith. She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and works at the important intersection of faith and developmental science, blending them in the original harmony God intended. Dr. Mary Ruth is the author of Daughter by Design: Discovering Your Identity as God's Beloved Daughter, and co-coauthor of Spiritual Discernment for Beginners: Learning to Hear God and Defeat the Lies of the Enemy. She is a contributing author to All She Had and our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Find out more about her here.
Walk With Us this Advent
Get Your Prayerful Planner
